Stillness is the Move... Se fue 2013, Dale vamos 2014

Sooo, it is 2014. January.  Wicked winter in Ohio, Summertime in Panamá. The last few months of 2013 rolled right on by.  November was filled with various magical adventures with Kristin and many celebrations for Panamanian and U.S. holidays alike. I spent two solid weeks rambling around the frozen Midwest for Christmas and New Year’s, spending time with loved ones and homies. So much good food and beer. Netflix. Blankets. Corduroys and Christmas sweaters. College Football. High School Hoops…Amurica was gooood.

And then I woke up in Panama. Many times during my trip home I felt that Panama had been a dream; it was so easy to slip comfortably back into the flow in the States (during the holidays at least). Definitely some strange transitions there.

Taking my first steps on U.S. soil, walking through the Atlanta airport in my cutarras on my feet and my chakara hanging at my side, a Qdoba burrito was the only thing in between me and my flight to Detroit, my family, many reunions of epic proportions, (epic portions too, I might add) of food craft beer… I asked the very friendly woman speaking English to me at the register who was holding my 5 pound silver brick of cheesy, heavenly goodness. “Err, do you guys accept cards?” I asked, confused. They did. My debit card worked. Holy Toledo, I was heading home; to the frigid north and to the land of comfort.   I had a solid trip home, and was overwhelmed (in a great way) to walk into Nick and Jimmy’s, filled with many of the same familiar faces who saw me off 10 months prior. Time slowed as I felt the warmth and love, but it sped up as the reunions were crunched in, and I savored rich food and tasty brews in between ramblings about life in Panama and trying to check in with what everybody is up to. Family, cousins, and old friends all seem to be doing pretty well, with many exciting things happening in people’s lives. Tommy is hooping, Mols is starting a new chapter in grad school at EMU, and cousins and amigos are rambling about, working, getting engaged, settling, moving, searching…. Life seems good up there, and I was really feeling that reaffirmation about the uniqueness of how closely connected people are up in Toledo, OH. It is truly a special place.


 Coming back to the isthmus was definitely weird. Exhausted from traveling, rolling along the highway into the illuminated tropical urban sprawl of Panama City after midnight, the Pacific to my left, I tried to soak in the transition, the moment, the feeling. Reflect. Be grateful. Be present. It’s astonishing to go from shoveling snow in a winter wonderland to gazing at a dark ocean at night, with the warm salty breeze tending to my cracked lips and skin. Change and transitions always cause discomfort, sometimes doubt and confusion. That has since worn off, I affirmed that Panama is where I should be right now, and I am damn lucky to have the opportunity to be a volunteer in such a beautiful place.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
November/December Highlights

-Birthday Adventure to Kuna Yala with Kristin: We could probably write a book about this adventure. I spent my 24^th birthday on Isla Diablo (Niadup) in the Caribbean with new friends, natives from Kuna Yala and visitors from Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, and California. I have never seen so many shades of blue, such clear water. We relished in magnificent lobster dinners, fresh seafood, snorkeling, the brightest stars and most brilliant moonI have ever seen. And the Kuna people were so kind, so tranquil, and super hilarious. They have their culture impressively intact, and while tourism and globalization no doubt are changing things, the Kuna seem to be retaining their traditional way of life. We stayed two extra nights in our tent on the island paradise, and were even taken to one of the main village islands to attend the Chicha Fuerte celebration one day, for when a young girl in the community begins menstruating. It was 5 days of intense drinking, praying, dancing, music, etc., and the people were so accepting and open Speaking of openness, the caretaker of the island, Yensi, is, well, she is a man. But she dresses in traditional Kuna clothing and seems to be considered and accepted as a woman. For a traditional culture, it seems that they are very progressive about some issues. On my 24^th birthday, Yensi and the rest of the Kuna folks running the island somehow orchestrated the delivery of a cake from the city to this island. Such incredible thoughtfulness. Aaron, the son of the Archemedes, who owns the island, told Kristin and me the night before my birthday, “Tomorrow we are going to discover the universe!” That we did. So much natural beauty and good-natured human beings there. I can’t wait to go back to Kuna Yala.

-It was neat showing a special friend the reality of my day to day life in Torti. She saw the positives and negatives, the struggles and friendships. We went to some desfiles, did a lot of pasearing, and cooked lasagna, guacamole, and more for my host family.

We even got painted with jagua at the nearby Emberá community in Ipetí.

-Peace Corps Thanksgiving, Cerro Punta, Chiriqui: On the way out to the big yearly PC thanksgiving bash in the mountains of Chiriquí, we stopped in Boquete, a beautiful town up in the highlands where a lot of ex-pats have taken refuge with their farms, restaurants, small businesses, and jungle fortresses. Super fresco, amazing views, delicious coffee—it is truly a magnificent mountain town, and so different from the hot and humid jungle lowlands that I am used to. We took off up into the mountains after midnight to climb to the peak of Volcán Barú, which sits at 10,000 feet. After about 3.5 hours, exhausted and shaking from the cold, we reached the summit, and were able to see a spectacular sunrise and a brief glimpse of both the pacific and Atlantic oceans before the clouds rushed in, hanging below, separating us from the rest of the Earth. Unbelievable.

Thanksgiving was just as amazing. About 200 volunteers escaped their communities to come together to eat, drink, and be merry for a few days up in the mountain lodge resort, Los Quetzales. The food was bomb, the mood was way high, and we laughed and danced and gave thanks and appreciation for each other and our incredible fortune for the time and place we are sharing here in Panama.

I was so blessed to have Kiks come down, see my life down here and how I have adjusted, and share in some adventures together. Before she left, we randomly followed up on an opportunity to be casted as extras in the film, Hands of Stone, which stars Robert DeNiro and Usher and tells the story of the Panamanian lightweight world champion boxer, Roberto Duran. We were dressed up in 70s digs and sat around the boxing ring in an arena all day and into the night to film a couple of brief scenes from a fight that is supposed to be taking place at Madison Square Garden. It was pretty cool seeing Deniro act about 15 feet away from me, but it was such a long day for such a small amount of film. What a tedious business. Guess showbiz isn’t for me. Oh, and I almost forgot, we even participated in a World AIDS day flash mob in various places in Panamá City, super cool! So many amazing experiences to be had in this little country. Panamá would love to have Miss Eberts return, I am sure of it.

Then, I finally made it stateside for a lovely couple weeks of beautiful overindulgence of family, friends, and food.

Some favorites:

1.       The people. So great catching up with loved ones. Although there were a lot of rushed reunions, I was able to catch up with my lovely cousins and old friends, check in, share stories, tip a few back, and go our separate ways, kicking ass and rocking out the 20s of our lives.

2.       Ok, cold sucks, but winter has its wins. The snow was cool in an aesthetically-pleasing way, but old man winter is a grumpy bastard, especially this year. Getting thrown into the icy Midwest after living in jungle heat for 10 months was a bit rough. THAT SAID, the first annual Scott family Clark Lake Christmas was pretty amazing, with the frozen lake and now-covered trees. Christmas ales just wouldn’t be satisfying in 90 degree weather. I was pumped to rock corduroys nonstop for 2 weeks, and I had the pleasure of donning a Christmas cardigan alongside my old pals who also toted their finest Yuletide sweaters, and cruise around Toledo/BG in a school bus singing, dancing, and drinking peppermint schnapps. Finally, curling up next to a pretty lady and having Breaking Bad Netflix benders with the fam and Bo was very special. Wine, too many craft brews, crab cakes, steak, chicken wings, bar food bar food bar food, etc. = all super great things. Driving back from Chicago in blizzard conditions, not so cool. Thankfully, I had a good co-pilot.

3.       Good Music. Good Music. Jamming and sharing tunes with friends and fam was a refreshing break from the típico/bachata/reggaeton binging I am constantly forced to take in. I celebrated NYE with Kristin, Jarret Kling, and his lady Megan by rocking with Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears in Chicago. Funky blues grooves and horns that could blow out knees—‘twas a spectacular show. 

4.       Sports, bars, and sports bars.  Watching football and hoops with the old man and his normal crew at the local Ralphie’s and elsewhere was definitely a treat (see: chicken wings). I even was able to play ball with the guys at St. James. The best part was seeing little bro Tomás play a couple great games with the CCHS Irish. Dude is actually pretty big. He should not feel too proud about his size in comparison to me though, as I sweat 5 liters every day and sustain myself with rice, beans, and oatmeal. They have a tough squad and it is so awesome to see the little brother starting varsity basketball. He’s living the dream and I am proud. I even was able to listen to the local radio broadcast the other week when they played SJ and lost a tough one in OT.

Ringing in the New Year at home was a perfect end to a magical year, and all I can do is express my appreciation for the good fortune and blessings I have in this life. In Panama, I have a home, a family of Peace Corps volunteers who really do exemplify the best things about the United States of America, and connections with numerous Panamanians families who are so generous, giving and peaceful. More so, the reason I have such an awesome opportunity to do this is because of my amazing family, friends, education, and experiences that led me here. Perhaps the most important thing I have learned/reaffirmed this year is that family, friends, and the environment we come from is so crucial for success. Living in Panama has shown me that, although culture is subjective, beautiful, and powerful, the vast majority humans have similar needs and priorities, such as family, friendship, love, support, freedom, and happiness. By sharing in these sentiments/values, we can connect with others and find common ground with people seemingly different then us. With those who do not have such fortune, I believe it is the duty of every one of us who comes from such loving families and communities, to reach out with empathy and connect with people of different cultures, classes, and races.  These individual acts can cause immeasurable positive change down the line, one relationship at a time.

Summer rhythms, staying busy, ramblin’…

Summer time in Panamá is wonderful. There is a nice breeze most days, the already relaxed pace slows a little bit, kids are out and about, lazy days hanging at the río is a standard activity—life is good here. That said, my summer is already flowin’ on by. I have already completed one GAD youth development camp last week in the Azuero. I have another GAD camp in Darien in February and then I will travel across the country to help facilitate an Ultimate Frisbee camp in Chiriquí. Mix a couple weeks of English seminars in there and there goes my summer! This is totally fine though; it’s good to be on the move. I definitely feel more in my element when I am traveling. That said, I definitely am going to soak up hammock and river time when I can. I also am looking forward to regional meeting this week, especially the next couple days, when a group of us will climb Chugantí, a mountain in the rainforest not too far from Tortí, and stay up at the summit in some cabins for a few days. School will be here before I know it. Carnavales are at the end of February, right after school starts. I am really excited for my first Carnaval, but before, I will be going on a 3 day jungle trek to the Caribbean coast, returning to Kuna Yala to celebrate the Kuna independence from Panamá on the island of Ustupu February 25. It’s all happening.

Can’t wait until we all cross paths again. Feliz Año Nuevo mis amores, make 2014 the best one yet. Abrazos, Dani

p.s. my host family got a toucan. his name is tuki tuki, and he is super rad.

Having a Home

So I have been back in Tortí for a few weeks now since my IST El Valle reunion/adventure. It was a little weird at first, not to mention the pressure to come back and immediately 1) kick ass, 2) start a million clubs and sports teams, 3)plan youth camps, 4) show my counterparts that I am the answer and savior who will revolutionize the Panamanian classroom forever, 5) teach everybody English and 6) save the environment... Okay, I haven't been feeling that much pressure, but we did receive many awesome resources and learned about projects/clubs/camps that other TE volunteers have started. Iiiii'm not quite there yet.

Although most of the people in my site thought I was either lost or in the United States, I was not forgotten  upon my return,  being bombarded by big hugs from little Panamaniacs. The school is still chaotic, and there are a bunch of distractions from MEDUCA (ministry of ed.). the school, and elsewhere that continue to put my co-teachers in a frenzy. That said, I am being super patient and positive, keeping the boat steady while encouraging the teachers to come to me for planning support. Little wins, one class at a time.

Meanwhile, I am in the library working on miscellaneous PC reports, camp applications, seminar preparations, general TEFL research, watching TED Talks, fantasy football management, etc., praying that members of the English squad come in for some help or a good old- fashioned chat. Little by little, they are coming, and more, students are hanging out and asking for help. And I am recruiting my little librarians and Book Club members who will help me organize the library, create a super groovy reading corner/area/space, and start the reading revolution in Panamá. I have sent my host brother Abdiel to school with a frisbee in order to start planting seeds with the muchachos and -chas for my Ultimate Frisbee team. Rolling right along like a stone.

my new pal Minio the minnow

chiquitos acting out some English emotions at a MEDUCA event

I am constantly adapting and re-envisioning everything about my project, my role, what Peace Corps is, what development is, etc. I am really trying to step back and check myself after every speedbumb, frustration, or potential change or breakthrough. This is frustrating, but there is good reason for this experience being a minimum of 2 years. Integration and relationship-building is a long process, and being in a huge site with tons of kids, teachers, and community members is overwhelming. Taking my time, still looking to find my place in that river current, the space where I fit in the pace, the culture, the community; and still send some ripples.

So, here are some things that make me smile in Tortí/The East of Panamá:

1. La Familia Valdéz
They are hilariously wild, genuine and gentle campesinos. Santeños at heart. They are always joking and laughing, and even though a lot of times it at my expense, (like when I was running around with filthy piglets, transporting them to their new cement block abode, squeeling coming from everywhere and sounding more like dinosaur screams than anything, as my host mom Demita screams at me Spanish instructions that I don't understand) I appreciate the hell out of them because they take care of me, almost to the point of overworrying. I can talk to José about anything, and often vent to different members of the family about my school frustrations. They are incredible storytellers, especially Abuelo Germán. I especially enjoy Germán's stories of pre-interamericana times out here in the East, when there was a little single-engine airplane that would make trips to and from Tortí, bringing goods or carrying pregnant women or sick people to the city. They were convinced that plane would go down every time.

Pigs on the wing

Last week we went on a family trip to Panamá city in the family chiva (big van used for local public transport) to shop for some things, get parts for the chiva, try to find a bike for me, and do general shopping. It was overwhelming going to a big mall filled with superstores filled to the brim with any product you could imagine, from millions of cheap shoes and croc rubber sandal variations, to halloween and christmas decorations. We hit about 7 of those, no joke, and like 4 "Do It Center's." However, the 10+ hour trip was something special and outside the norm of running a restaurant and working in the campo. José brought his camera to capture moments from the trip, we enjoyed some junk food, Popeyes Chicken (yep.), donuts, and ICEE's (my host-gramps German's reaction to those was priceless. Oh the brainfreeze). They commented that the city Panamanians were judging them for rolling in like a campo family in the chiva and acting like the Santeño hillbillies they are, but they were hilarious, intrigued, and overwhelmed, yet determined shoppers (especially host-grandma, reina y jefa de la familia, Demita). I however, felt quite lost and overwhelmed by all the consumerism and shitty products screaming at me, engulfed by the bright lights, rubber, plastic, rows and columns...I would have lost my mind if not for the loving, free and crazy country-spirited Valdéz family.

Another funny moment was when I came home from a long day of school and reminisced on childhood and cartoons with José and Jackie. José was going on about some 80s cartoon called "Los Picapiedras," and after he began singing the theme song I realized it was the Spanish version of the Flintstones. All the characters are the same, but Fred and Barney were changed to Pedro and Pablo. We were rolling with laughter.

Tío José

2. Philosophizing with Aristoteles, Claudio, and other Kuna gentleman.
Aristoteles is one of the most motivated Panamanians I encounter on a daily basis in regards to learning English, and he's a high school math teacher. Shortly after returning to Tortí, he convinced me to stop by a local cantina, share a few pints and listen to Bob Marley and ABBA. He genuinely expressed in broken English that he appreciated our friendship and thinks that what I am doing is very special and rare. His kind words were very well-timed,and really lifted my spirits (because the watery Central American lager sure wasn't).

Another night, there was word that the Kuna Madugandi people would shut down the Inter-Americana at multiple points here on the east side due to their discovery that there were Latinos who had cut trees and built within their Comarca limits. This land conflict is on-going in different regions in Panamá, especially with the Kuna, who are very serious about their relationship with and rules about preserving the natural environment.

Anyway, that night I went to visit my English-teaching counterpart Claudio to get the deets on the protest, and he took me to the congreso that was happening. There were 50+ men sitting on benches around the casa comunal, made of a penca-thatched roof, bamboo walls, and a dirt floor. I didn't understand a lick of the conversation spoken in the Kuna dialect, but according to Claudio, several leaders spoke of the succesful workday where 150 men from all over the Kuna Madugandi Comarca went to limits to clean-up a.k.a. throw some machete. It was there where they discovered the intrusion onto their land.

The Kuna are goofy, intelligent, and very serious about preserving their culture and autonomy. I spent the rest of the night sharing a few refrescos and talking with Claudio, Aristoteles, Boris (the saila/chief of Wacuco)  about everything. As they dropped Galileo and Copernicus quotes, we discussed science, philosophy, indigenous culture and connection with mother nature, war, the atomic bomb, the nature of man, and a lot about history and conquest in the U.S. and Panama--all in the context of a new (or not?) and rapidly changing world. These dudes are fascinating and brilliant, I mean, seriously wise, and I really look forward to learning and sharing with my Kuna pals and other community members in this area.

3. Students, especially 1-3 graders.
       Limitless energy and wet, slobbery hugs. So many stares and smiles from those big, dark chocolate eyes, kids with shades of brown skin and mixed ethnic features that trace the complex, secret tale of Latinoamerica.. though you see it, hear it, everywhere. Hearing Dani! and Teacher! throughout the day. Such innocent, genuine love and positivity can lift anybody.

Milagros y Abrán

Tortí Seniors

4. Spending multiple afternoons singing "Let It Be", "Imagine", and other tunes with students and teachers for the approaching First-Annual English Sing-Along in Tortí. We are hosting 7 schools, it's gunna be rad.
This MEDUCA mandated regional English event has caused way too much stress and headaches, mostly due to the huge lack of communication between teachers and administrators. However, in the midst of chaos, I have been enjoying Panamanian renditions of Beatles members and ABBA all week, talking English music with Claudio and others. Claudio used to listen to the Beatles on a radio his family had in the 70s while growing up on an island in San Blas.

English Teachers Milvia and Claudio at Puente Bayano

Elige Tu Vida youth seminar in Rachel´s school

5. Seminars (might regret this one)
IST introduced and inspired us to get involved with giving seminars. They are very effective in sharing methods and strategies with large groups of teachers in a setting that they are accustomed to (in the pseudo-official-ness formal kind of way). Also, being in the school trying to get teachers to co-plan and co-teach with us can definitely be a drag, so seminars are a good way for TE volunteers to feel productive. Aja did some serious butt-kicking and organized 2 seminars in Darién for multigrado teachers (teachers in small schools with multi-level classes, where they often have to teach English with few resources and without really knowing the language), so I helped out with those and they turned out great. We hope to replicate these seminars in Panamá Este. We just had a meeting with out MEDUCA rep. Teresa and are hashing out some details for summer seminars and some other events, including a panel discussion at the university in Metetí.

6. Dude got a bike. It's a seemingly-legit brand new Huffy mountain bike and it was reasonably cheap. Some screws are loose and it definitely needs some maintenance, but I have been whipping around Tortí, getting to school in record time, gaining street cred from the muchachos and impressing my estudents.

7.   Daype Pizza right down the road

Despite being in a slower-paced world, weeks are disappearing like chicken bones around Panadogs. There have been some cool opportunities to collaborate with other eastsiders; I just got back from a solid weekend in Rachel's site for an Elige Tu Vida youth workshop and a super fun night cooking and watching the Panamá  v. Mexico fútbol match. I am meeting a bunch of volunteers in the city Tuesday for the Panamá v. USA game, which will be awesome. (UPDATE: That was a very strange, fun, yet terribly tragic night. I feel for my paisanos : /)

Also, a few weeks ago a group of us hiked almost 2 hours from Ipetí to surprise our pal Andrew in his beautiful jungle valley refuge for one last weekend despedida. He's moving to Darién to live with the Emberá for the remainder of his service because that gnarly hike destroyed his knees and body. Godspeed, Jenkins!

Jenks and his pal Simba

Katy and Chano

Jenkins´ Jungle Fortress

                                   

River crossing

                                   

I am getting pretty busy and there are few actual weeks of school left this year, especially because in November there are a ton of national holidays, independence days, etc., so class apparently will be very irregular or non-existent. It's crazy how my calender is actually filling up with adventures, GAD camps, seminars, Thanksgiving and other events. Like today, a group of fellas invited me to play on their softball team next week, stoked. There will be cold beer to drink out of dried calabaza shells. Lastly, I am getting a very special visitor in November for my birthday, um, month. The lovely Kristin Eberts is coming down to the isthmus and we are going to have some pretty epic adventures. Stay tuned!

Abrazos

I had the strangest dream... filled with rambunctious reunions, laughter, valleys, and English seminars

So at the end of August, with the 2nd trimester winding down, I escaped from Tortí a little early to travel before our in-service training (IST) started in the Coclé region. The time was perfect to do some rambling, especially with such a big reunion in sight, as I had not seen the majority of my G72 comrades in almost 4 months. I was super-excited, and there were lovely encounters with PCV friends new and old all along the way.

Before I left the east, I attended an Ultimate Disc coaches/youth group development training in Metetí. It was awesome, got lots of great materials and resources (including 8 frisbees woohoo!), and definitely plan to get my frisbee squad ready pronto. This was just the beginning to the tidal wave of info., resources, project discussion, and ideas that would come during IST and getting together with friends. And yet, all these things hang in the background of those 3 weeks that flew by in a rush of awesome nights spent with groovy company.

But first, before heading to the concrete jungle of Panamá city and crossing the canal westbound, we had to kill and eat fresh jungle duck in Darién:

Mateo, a.k.a La Leyenda. giving Jessica (G73) a pep talk before she goes for the jugular 

My pit stop in the city was cool. I was able to catch up with old pals at PC HQ before many headed back to Santa Rita for some extra language training, and had a great night at hostel Urracá  (which is often sprawling with PCVs in the city for medical conditions like worms/amoebas,etc., or in need of a beer and A/C, or all of the above) with una mezcla of volunteers from various groups and sectors.

I planned on getting out to Benjamin's site in the mountain valleys of Veraguas the following day, but after getting a 2 hour tour of Panamá City on a metro bus, I arrived to the terminal late, and would not be able to make it out there in time... So I made a trip to my good pal Phillip's site in San Juan de Dios (where I visited in March for my volunteer visit) to kick it for the night. We watched the wire, cooked, played scrabble, and drank wine. No, that does not constitute as romantic. Just a Peace Corps dude's night.

Finally made it to Ben's site, Los Valles de Veraguas. Absolutely beautiful site and community, in the forested valleys surrounded by seemingly endless lush mountains. The climate was super fresh, the children were lovely, and the lack of electricity was actually a relief. We had a blast, and we agreed that it was pretty neat seeing his community see us interact, as two goofy young Americans.

Ben and I visited Santa Rita for a night, and then all the gringos converged at CEDASAM, a government facility in Farallón for the epic reunion. And it was epic. We spent 3 days in seminars, recapping our experiences and talking about grants, rules, and whatnot, and the had 3 rambunctious nights at the beach, a short walk away from the dorm/bunker facility where we stayed.

After the brief-yet-spirited reunion with all of G72, CEC went one way, and we Teaching English volunteers headed up to the beautiful, cozy, super-fresco El Valle de Antón. Some other volunteers were/are salty about the good fortune we had, but I give our APCD Joel props for hooking us up with such a cool training location. We lived pretty well for a few days, staying in a cool hotel in the middle of an old volcano crater, now a lush valley, with a brilliant 360 degree view of incredible mountains. Most of our time was in fact spent in tech sessions, but we made the most of the nights, hit up some of the nice cafes and restaurants in town, hiked the India Dormida, visited the zoo (yes they have a zoo, with some of the nearly-extinct Rana Dorada)--you get the point. El Valle is badass, and we are all jealous of Jessie for being the lucky winner of such an beautiful site. But we are all winners here in Panamá. When You come visit, we are going back to El Valle.

La India Dormida

Dana chillin on the India, El Mar Pacifico in the distance

Philly and Logi looking down on El Valle

During IST we did have some really great seminars, got connected with a bunch of solid resources for teaching English and starting a number of potential secondary projects, met some State Department folks, danced and played with kids in El Valle during a little mini-English camp to practice new techniques, and gave a teacher's seminar in Penonomé. This experience is one of constant revisioning, adaptation, and re-adaptation. It is always special and inspiring to share it, real time (whatever that means, what a trip ; )) with such awesome people who are also on this crazy ride.

Making patacones with Alán

After a couple more nights of birthday celebrations and a trip to the beach, I stopped by Santa Rita again, this time to catch up with the wonderful Alan y Alanis (and Carlos, of course) before I made my way back to the east. However, I did not really come back to the reality of my community in Tortí until after a trip to Metetí for regional meeting, where I met all the new rockstars from G73.
And got to see this guy at our talent show:

Andrew "Yankis" Jenkins (from Alabama, go figure)...Despite the fashion and grooves, this performance had less to do with the talent show, and more to do with flash mobbin' and World Aids Day Dec. 1st, 2013. stay tuned...

And killed and smoked a goat:

Rachael cutting up some fresh goat meat

What a dream, what a roller coaster. The time intervals, the speeding up and slowing down, really makes one's perspective of what 2 years living in another country/culture especially being part of such an organic entity like Peace Corps, extremely strange and beautiful; and super difficult to explain at times. Anyway, it's nice to have a home to return to, to bring some sort of stability and reality to the adventure.

"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once."
Albert Einstein

So much to look forward to.

El Ritmo

Alright so it has been a minute since I've littered cyperspace with deets about Panalife, but now as I take refuge under the mosquito net, with a box of wine and good tunes, I am ready to recap the last month or so...

I just completed my third month in site, and like getting settled in any new environment, one get's into routines. I've been feeling the rhythm, keeping busy in the school and in the community, while trying to help out the host fam when I can, and spending nights reading or trying to learn the blues. Routines are nice, keeps time flowing right along under the toes. That said, I haven't had the drive to update y'all on the number of mosquito bites I had the other morning, or how I've spent countless hours trying to learn Paul Simon's "Peace Like a River."

Last week I finally finished my last week of observations in the secondary school. Two weeks ago, Joel, my APCD (director of TE program) came to visit for my SENA presentation (school needs assessment, sorry I'll cut it out with the acronyms that I still don't really know). It was a solid day, 5 of 6 teachers showed (la directora was also absent, but we caught her the previous afternoon), I gave me feedback and presented my plan and ideas, and we all chatted about my role, the Peace Corps TE program, and English education in general. It was nice having Joel there; I think he legitimized my role as a volunteer and got me a little more street cred... I return to primaria tomorrow to work with the two teachers in the afternoon on lesson planning and classroom management strategies. I want to focus more on sharing ideas and practicing English outside of class, but I also plan to participate in pre-planned lessons in the classroom. Some teachers are more excited to work with me than others, but I am pretty persistent and plan to approach any hesitation or stress with pura positividad. And of course always keeping in mind, it's the little wins in this world.

Team English, Tortí

Rainy season steadily gains steam as it rolls through the jungle, with storms increasing in strength and frequency (which means more hammock bonding and struggles in the morning rolling out of bed.  Most of the good fruit seasons have ended, leaving Nancé at the forefront (semi-sweet, mushy-textured little berry-thing, not so great but not bad in a fresh chicha) and Naranja coming through next. Been hoarding and chopping up lots of pipa recently, which is the pre-mature, green coconut, and it is incredible. Pipa have delicious sweet water inside and a kind of semi-solid jelly on the inside of the shell which is delectable and healthy as well. Coco is great too, but used more for cooking sweets or arroz con coco, or as oil.

Spent one afternoon collecting mamón (delicious little sweet and sour fruit):

 I was totally shown up by Angie and Titi, who are both mothers, as they effortless climbed wayy up in this mamón tree, knocking down branches full of the fruit, sometimes with a 20 foot pole. Panamanians can seriously climb like the little Mono Titi you see in the jungles down here.

My homie Cristian, and little Marisbeth behind helping collect the fallen treats

One Sunday, after the restaurant closed, I went with the fam down to the river Ipetí to wash German's chiva (bus) and go for a swim. Driving your car into the shallows of a river is an excellent and cheap alternative to going to the car wash.

Tío José and I made a trip to the the aqueduct up on the mountain that feeds into the Valdez property and a few other families in the community. They constructed this aqueduct in the 80s when there were only a few families in Tortí

New friend, one of my student's pets, un mono araña

                             

Pasearing has been going well. Little by little I am making it to more and more of the small communities surrounding Tortí where many students at my school come from. Ipetí a town about 15 minutes in chiva west of Tortí, and is basically made up of 3 separate communities: Ipetí Latino, Ipetí Emberá, and Ipetí Kuna. I really enjoy visiting the Emberá and Kuna communities that border Río Ipetí, but on opposite sides of the highway. The cultures and languages are totally different, the people are beautiful, and there is so much to learn about their traditions and customs. I frequently visit the house of Álvaro in Ipetí Kuna. One of his sons is in 7th grade in my school, and I am in the process of working with Álvaro to start a weekend community English class for adults and kids in the village. The Saila (chief) has given me the go ahead, so I am just waiting to meet with the director of their little school to see if there is a classroom I can use. Álvaro is going to get me a list of people who are seriously interested and dedicated. I am very excited to get involved with this Kuna community, as Peace Corps has not had volunteers in any of the three Kuna Comarcas in some time due to political reasons, especially working with the Sailas because it is a very closed culture that really tries to retain its autonomy, independence, and heritage in any ways possible /(which definitely has put a strain on "development" in some aspects, but it is a tough situation and I have an incredible amount of appreciation and respect for the indigenous of Panamá.)

Yani, daughter of Álvaro and her really cool bracelet making contraption

My student Alvaro and his little bro Albis, with a puppy, and their cousin

At the end of June, I made a trip out to Coclé for the weekend to meet up with my pals Nate and Phil. We stayed at Nate's site for a night,  cooked, chatted, and awoke the next morning to swim beneath the enormous waterfall nearby his house. It was breathtaking, literally. Standing below the falling water felt like being blasted with a fire hose. The next day, we went to visit La Finca de Los Perezosos, a permaculture farm run by an ex-Peace Corps volunteer named John Douglas. He served in Peace Corps in 2001 and started his farm about 5 years ago, and it is truly a food forest. John is called the Lazy Farmer because he focuses on using "trash" (organic scraps) as fertilizer and the multi-use of different plants to act as natural defenses to pests and weeds. At the farm, I reunited with an old amigo and fellow Ohio brethren John, who has been in Central America working with sustainable agriculture since January, and was volunteering on John;s finca for a month. It's always an amazing occurrence when you cross paths with a familiar face in another time and place. Ohio John gave us a tour through the fruit wonderland, as we picked off leave, fruits, and flowers from enormous, healthy trees and bushes to munch on as he explained some of the basics of permaculture. Truly a magnificent creation, let nature do what nature does by just putting the elements in place. It is unbelievably sustainable, but definitely would take some time to develop/replicate, and it is hard to sell to many Panamanians who rely on Monsanto chemicals to clear hectares of monte for high yields of rice, corn, yuka, or otherwise. I definitely plan to read/learn more about permaculture, and would love to spend more time on La Finca de Los Perezosos! That night, we convinced my pal John and his 2 awesome fellow volunteers, Alan from Mexico and Holland from England, to join us for a night at the beach in Santa Clara. We shared rum and wine, stories, thoughts about the environment and the future of humanity, laughing and chatting under the starry cosmos. A big yellow moon lit a path across the dark sea, and while we rambled on about the future, time, and space, I couldn't have been more content in that moment.

For the 4th of July, many East-siders, Darienistas, and some trainees who were on their site-visits converged in Canglón, Darién toward the end of the Panamerican highway. Killed a pig and chowed on some delish Peace Corps grub (pasta salad, an amazing peanut butter spinach dip-esque dish, and even deviled eggs!) enjoyed beverages and grooved through the night to a healthy mix of American jams. We all crashed in a very nice, raised Eco-cabin in the jungle with a fridge and bunk beds (pretty luxurious by PC standards, though most of us were on the floor with as little as a sheet, or halfway off a sleeping mat (me)) A very solid independence day away from the mainland, spent with great gringo company. Afterwards, I traveled with my buddy Andrew and the trainee who was visiting him to his site in Agua Fría de Ipetí. The hike to his site starts down the road from my place, but it is a 2 hr hike up and down hills, through mud and across rivers, until reach his little valley where about 50 families live, some  hours apart. It is absolutely beautiful, tranquil, pristine. We followed on the rivers up and climbed some small waterfalls, and he showed us the hydroelectric plant that has been a project of the past couple volunteers in his community. Very neat engineering.

Probably the coolest event from the last month here in Tortí was a 5 day film festival put on by the Smithsonian and University of Panama. The festival focused on the history of Lago Bayano and surrounding communities. The goal of the festival was to have campesinos, indigenous Emberá, and indigenous Kuna come together to share culture, art, and film, and to encourage the vision and shared responsibility of a common sustainable future. Some of the films were about history, specifically the construction of the artificial Lago Bayano and hydroelectric dam that powers the city, some short documentaries made by Panamanians, others about indigenous cultures in other countries (from Canada, Perú, Bolivia, Zapatistas from Mexico), but the general themes were cultural tradition, globalization and modernization, the environment, and indigenous land rights and conflict. The crew was made up of a biologist from Peru, a bunch of cool Canadians, and Panamanians.

My favorite night was when they showed a Kuna Yala documentary that made it to Sundance, called Burwa Dii Ebo. It was shown in the Casa Comunal of the Akua Yala community on the edge of Lago Bayano. An incredibly diverse group (in age and cultural identity) filled the traditional Kuna meeting place; a huge hut with a palm thatched roof, made of wooden planks and sticks, benches filling the dirt floor. The film was displayed on a white sheet hung from the ceiling, cast from a projector plugged into a Macbook. Children giggled and shuffled around the room, babies cried while mothers tried to calm their hunger or fever. There were minor electrical difficulties, but being in such a room, vibrant and teeming with life and culture was quite a unique and authentic movie theater experience. What's more, a young Kuna dude named Mani, who helped work on the film, was there to talk about the filming process. I sat next to Maninaindi on a Diablo Rojo bus coming from Panama City during a weekend trek shortly after I arrived to the city. He had written his name in my notebook, I showed it to him to confirm, and he was equally blown away at the coincidence that we would randomly cross paths again. I tip my sombrero to you once again, Universe.

What a cool opportunity and unprecedented experience for the communities in the region, to share in culture and film and realize their shared connection to land, history, struggle, work, family, and life.



So getting in the routine of things, I have noticed the more natural changes and cycles in nature, like more rain, less mangos, more mud, a "greener" jungle (as ridiculous as it sounds, it's true, the monte is alive and soaking up some serious h2o), tall corn and rice, and lots of new life:

Abelín, Adiel, y Hermancín hangin with some pooches

And death:

Sometimes, death and really pull you from the cycle or routine of things, and this happened when tragedy struck Tortí last week. Wednesday morning, a family friend borrowed someone's sedan to drive 5 students to school from Curtí, a nearby pueblo. He lost control, went off the road and the car flipped multiple times. An 8th grader named Anabel was ejected from the vehicle and died in the field. Christian, another 8th grader, is still in the hospital in Chepo in critical condition. The highway out east is super dangerous. It's two lanes the whole way and the vast majority of drivers, in trucks filled with lumber or cows, buses/chivas, or regular campesinos in trucks, drive with little caution and way too much speed, even in more populated areas like by my school or in the centro of Tortí. Fatal accidents happen every month out here on the stretch between Chepo and into Darién.
We were talking about birthdays in a 10th grade class when a student showed us a picture of the mangled car that was uploaded to facebook. Anabel is related to Cansarí, one of the custodians at the school who always wears a warm smile and has the calmest demeanor. I saw him in school that morning and didn't know the victim was a relative, and couldn't tell a difference. My perspective on the whole ordeal is interesting because it was a lot of names and stories and families, and my Español is nowhere near perfect. There was a lot of sadness and confusion in the school, no one really knew what was going on or how to react, and many students travelling from that way witnessed the accident and were visibly traumatized. The school community is very large, and students come from a number of surrounding communties, but word travels fast around here and people are very supportive and caring. Hopefully the school community and the community of Curtí can pull together and recovery from the loss. And hopefully it will not take more tragedies like this one to bring some awareness or caution (or speed limit/traffic signs for that matter) to those who drive on the highway.
Keeping the family and friends of Anabel Cansarí in my thoughts and prayers. Descanse en Paz, niña.


I have been in site for a whole month, and I am itchin to break out of that rhythm a bit. Nothing like a little travelin' to change your tune for a bit; keeps things fresh. On Wednesday I am heading to Metetí in order to depart from the port around there to travel in boat to La Palma, where a few volunteers and I are going to lead an Elige Tu Vida (a kind of youth camp for kids the Peace Corps does). I am excited to check out La Palma for the first time, apparently it is pretty sweet. You have to arrive by boat along the largest river in Panamá that empties into the Golf of San Miguel in the Pacific.

Un abrazo,

Dani